If things continued like this, Aki Tomoya would surely die.
And he would die in the most humiliating way possible.
Atram's methods perfectly circumvented the prohibition against wanton harm to refugees decreed by Tohsaka Rin, exploiting a loophole in the rules.
Could this be called harming refugees?
It was hard to say!
Utaha's emotions were complicated. Her mind was filled with images of Aki Tomoya struggling amidst a group of women. In the end, she made a request to Roy.
If Aki Tomoya hadn't been in mortal danger, she wouldn't have asked Roy for this favor.
But since Aki Tomoya was on the verge of death, she couldn't just stand by and watch. After all, he had once done her a kindness.
At the very least, she had to save his life.
And saving his life was all she needed to do.
She was just a refugee herself. Going this far was already more than enough.
In the afternoon, Roy arrived at Atram's mansion and asked to take Aki Tomoya away.
"As compensation, how about I reinforce the bounded field around your house?"
Atram's face darkened ominously, his gaze toward Roy brimming with hostility.
Finally, he forced a smile.
"That would be a great help!"
An exchange was made.
Roy strengthened the mansion's bounded field and handed the magical array to Atram. After confirming that Roy couldn't control the bounded field, Atram handed over Aki Tomoya, who was on the brink of death.
For Atram, this wasn't a loss—in fact, it was a huge gain.
Aki Tomoya himself had no real value, and under normal circumstances, a magus would never reinforce another's bounded field.
Yet, as Atram watched Roy leave, his expression was so venomous it could kill.
***
Back at the same café.
Roy sat under the decorative parasol outside, sipping the bitter coffee.
Meanwhile, Utaha and Tomoya sat facing each other inside.
"I... I really can't thank you enough, Senpai. If it weren't for you..."
Tomoya's expression was numb, as if he had lost the ability to emote.
"What are you planning to do next?"
Utaha looked at him, suppressing her irritation and sighing.
"Lord Roy just told me... Tomorrow, there's a security team escorting ore. He'll be going too, and he'll arrange for me to be sent to the mining area..."
In other words, Tomoya would be mining.
It was undoubtedly grueling work—physically exhausting, with almost no rest, and no pay beyond basic sustenance.
But it was still far safer than serving a magus.
Being a magus's attendant was a gamble.
If you were lucky enough to be chosen by a magus who still had a shred of humanity, it was like hitting the jackpot. But if your magus had no moral compass, it was a living nightmare—no different from falling into an abyss.
Moreover, after three years as a miner, refugees could be promoted to civilian status. If he endured those three years, there was still hope for the future.
"Senpai... What did you have to give up to save me? Did you... offer yourself to Lord Roy?"
Bang!
Utaha's face turned icy. She slammed the table and stood up.
Then, she flung the still-warm coffee in Tomoya's face.
"Aki-kun, don't project your own filth onto others. Nothing happened between me and Lord Roy. He helped you purely out of kindness! Saying something like that is an insult to both me and him!"
Furious, Utaha stormed out of the café with heavy footsteps.
Roy hadn't demanded anything from her.
He had helped her unconditionally, simply because she asked.
Tomoya's words might have been logical, but saying them to her face was unforgivable. Utaha couldn't tolerate such disrespect.
Tomoya watched her leave, his eyes hollow and lost.
He sat in the café for a while longer, wiped the coffee from his face, and then headed toward the refugee shelter.
Roy set down his coffee and glanced at Tomoya's retreating figure.
The kid was just a high schooler. After enduring such torment, his worldview had likely been shattered, and his mind was probably broken.
The wilderness was cursed, filled with mental corruption.
Though the mining area had a bounded field, it was still in the wild.
It had the highest suicide rate every year.
With his current mental state, even if he went to the mines, he'd probably die anyway.
But how Tomoya died wasn't Roy's concern.
The reason he had helped had nothing to do with Tomoya.
Nor was it for Utaha.
"Magi... They're always such detestable scum. It'd be better if they all just died..."
A wave of nausea rose in Roy's throat.
He downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp, paid, and left.
***
Back at home.
Hayasaka, seeing Utaha's unapproachable aura, had no choice but to ask Roy for the full story.
After hearing everything, Hayasaka's internal alarm bells rang loudly.
The magi of this world were far worse than she had imagined!
But she also felt a sliver of relief.
At least Roy didn't seem to be that kind of magus.
Neither was Tohsaka Rin.
In fact, Roy, who had helped Utaha without asking for anything in return, was practically the polar opposite of a magus.
Rin had described the bespectacled Roy as "easy to talk to," but this wasn't just being amiable—he was practically the moral standard among magi!
Utaha fumed for most of the day.
It wasn't until dinner, when Roy suggested that Tomoya's torment might have left him mentally unstable, that she gradually calmed down.
There was no point getting angry at someone who wasn't in their right mind.
Otherwise, she'd only be tormenting herself.
But from now on, she and Tomoya were even.
One would remain in Fuyuki City, the other in the wilderness mines—their paths would never cross again.
That night.
After her bath, Utaha lay in bed and suddenly remembered a question she had unconsciously overlooked.
"That bastard Atram is a Cause magus. His bounded field shouldn't be weak... So how did Lord Roy bypass it so easily without even going inside? Isn't he just a Frame magus?"
That's right—during the investigation of Atram's mansion, Roy had treated the bounded field as if it didn't exist. His tone had been full of condescension, clearly looking down on Atram's magical skills.
Wasn't Frame the lowest rank?
Was this really the level of a Frame magus?
***
The next day, February 1st.
"Lord Roy, please try this porridge!"
Roy had just woken up when Utaha emerged from the kitchen, wearing the same proud expression she'd had when receiving her first writing paycheck.
She had gotten up early and, under Hayasaka's guidance, made breakfast for the first time in her life.
Though it was hardly equal repayment, she wanted to express her gratitude.
"Not bad!"
Roy took a sip and praised Utaha's cooking.
Making porridge was an art.
Making it taste bad was hard, but making it taste good was even harder.
Though most of the credit likely went to Hayasaka, he could still feel Utaha's sincerity.
Pleased by the praise, Utaha smiled with a sense of accomplishment and threw herself even more enthusiastically into learning maid work from Hayasaka.
***
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